Corpse Groom
by Yuuaku Hikari
Summary: They were doomed to be married, though they've never before met. His parents were thrilled, hers were filled with regret. But in a moment of panic, Roxas desperately fled and by a grave misunderstanding, married a corpse groom instead.
1. According to Plan

_"Roxas, darling! We have to go!"_

A piercing voice broke through the comforting silence of a particular blonde lad, who halted in his movements with such force the tip of the quill pen he held daintily in his hand snapped and ink bled all over the paper he had on his desk. He cursed silently to himself, frowning pitifully at the sight of all of his hard work, wasted. He had managed to catch a rather peculiar specimen earlier that morning and was trying to record it in his sketch book. Well, _that_ didn't exactly go according to plan.

Sighing, he carefully set aside the dripping sketch book and rose from his seat. A glass lid was placed only a foot away from his book, holding a butterfly with blood-red wings that formed the shape of a heart captive. His back arched and he leaned forward, observing his little prisoner with great interest. It was still flapping its wings frantically about - Roxas wondered why the poor thing hadn't died from exhaustion - and landed upon the side of the glass, showing off to the boy whose nature of heart held its fate. A hand reached up as he rose to his feet, unlatching the window and pushing it open while the other moved towards the top of the glass. His fingers wrapped around the nub of a handle and carefully lifted it off of his desk, allowing the insect to feel the outside air rush in, giving wind to lift it into the air and fly. It fluttered around the boy, grateful that it would live to see at least one more day, and landed upon his nose. It tickled his skin, and he let out a small bit of laughter, light and innocent.

"Go on."

His hand shooed the creature off of his face, directing it to the open window. It obeyed, deserting the boy and heading out into the cruel, cold world where its wings stood out like a beacan in the night. Leaning on his windowsill, Roxas stared at the butterfly longingly, wishing that he, too, could sprout wings and escape from this prison he called "home". Especially today. Oh, what he wouldn't _give_ if he could run away today. Alas, that was not meant to be. For you see, today was -

_"Roxas!"_

He jumped up and yelped, startled by the sudden voice. His reflexes had caused his arm to knock into that glass container, and he just barely managed to catch it before it could fall and shatter onto the floor. It was quickly brought back onto his desk and slammed onto the surface, his hands holding it down as though gravity were to give out and it would move from its spot to float aimlessly into the air. His body was still shaking a little.

_"Stop your day-dreaming and get into the carriage! We are going to be late for your rehearsal!"_

"Y-Yes, Mother..." he meakly replied. He dared not look at that stout, bubbly woman he called "mother". The tone of her shrill voice told him plenty that she was impatient and not pleased, which didn't happen too often unless it was something important. Her tiny footsteps hurried out of the room and he waited until he could no longer hear them before he let out that breath of air he didn't even realize he took in. His parents' voices could be heard from downstairs, heading towards the door.

"It's a beautiful day," his mother's voice rang out. "It's a rather nice day, yes." That voice was his father. He wasn't as talkative as his mother. Roxas guessed that he got his shy trait from him. "A day for a glorious wedding!"

They were louder now, and when he stood up and looked out and down from his window he could see the two of them just walking out of the front door.

"Uh, the rehearsal, my dear, to be perfectly clear-"

"The rehearsal for a glorious wedding!" His eyes watched as they stepped down the steps that led to their rather large and nice house. Roxas was born into a family of fish merchants - a very_ wealthy_ family of fish merchants. The von Karns were very well off, their fishing company passed down through generations on his father's side. They had hoped that one day, Roxas would inherit the business from his own father. Roxas, well, had other ideas.

"Assuming nothing happens that we don't really know-" Once again, his father was cut off, "- that nothing unexpected interferes with the show," she added, and by the way their driver reacted when she turned her head towards him, she was probably giving him an awfully dirty look.

"And that's why everything - everything last little thing, every single tiny, microscopic, little thing must go according to plan!"

Roxas sighed in dismay. Why did today have to come? He shut the window, muting their thoughts of what grand future was to behold of them, grabbed the coat he had hanging off of the post of his bed, and stepped out of the room.

Today was the day that he was to be getting married. Sounds lovely, right? Except, it wasn't exactly all sunshine and roses. This was an _arranged_ marriage, and he had never seen his fiance before. The only reason he was getting married to a complete stranger was because of his parents. Wealthy as they were, they didn't have a very high social standing. This girl and her family, however... Well, let's just say that there wasn't a person in the town who didn't know and respect (or sometimes even fear) their name.

The blonde walked out of the bleak, gloomy house and into an even bleaker, gloomier world, shoving his arm into his coat's sleeve. His bright, golden hair and shining, cerulean eyes completely contrasted this monochromatic world. Everything was always so dark and depressing...it was a rather tiresome and provincial kind of world. His sight wandered, wishing to catch a glimpse of that lovely butterfly in the hopes that it hadn't already left this world of black and white. His hopes were crushed, because that black and white was all that would be allowed to have him be graced in its prescence. Inhaling deeply, then exhaling swiftly, he shut the door behind him and made his way over to the carriage to assist his father in getting that stout mother of his through that damn door.

"It's not me, it's my dress!"

* * *

"Do you- ah! Think that Ro- geh! Roxas and I- oomf! Will like eachother, Marluxia?" A corset was forced onto a girl, a grunt being released with each time it was tightened around her already-tiny waist. She was bent over, using a nightstand for support. Before her man-maid-servant could respond, a haughty laugh burst into the room.

"As if _that _had _anything_ to do with marriage."

The girl turned her head in the direction of the voice, recognizing the person it belonged to as her mother, her father standing beside her. Marluxia finished tightening her corset, "Namine, you think your father and I_ like_ each other?" The expressions they had on their faces already told her what she should answer with. But, she was hopeful.

"Well," she stood upright, wincing at how tight the corset was, "surely, you must...At least, a little?"

"HA!" They snorted in unison. "We do not like each other," was all that was stated before they left the room. Namine sighed, before her mother's head popped back into the doorway.

"And tighten that corset. I can still hear you talk without gasping for air."

* * *

The large doors to the girl's family's house, their name being Everlost, opened. The fellow who opened the door, who was rather short and pale, stared at the guests with an inquiring look.

"Uhh, d-darling..." Mr. von Karn gently prodded his wife's shoulder. Mrs. von Karn was too busy fixing up her son's hair and coat to notice that someone had answered their ringing. Needless to say, she was quite embarrassed when she finally did take notice.

"Oh! Right, we're the von Karns," she introduced to the doorman. "Ahh, yes. Mr. and Mrs. Everlost have been expecting you. Please, come in," his attempt at a warm welcome failed. His voice was far too dreary. The boy took one last look of the outside world before his shirt's collar was snatched and his body was dragged into the home of the Everlosts. Mr. and Mrs. Everlost were standing in front of the stairs. They were marble and very nice, but they were an awful shade of gray. Just like everything else in this damn world, Roxas noted. He could hear his father murmur something under his breath, something about this house being "tacky", before he was apparently nudged in the gut, judging by the grunt he suddenly made.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Vexen Everlost and Mrs. Larxene Everlost," Mrs. von Karn tried to act cheerful and friendly. "The pleasure is _ours_, Mr. and Mrs. von Karn," Larxene replied. "Ohohoho, please! Call me Pence! My husband, Hayner, and I are simply delighted to finally have this rehearsal. Oh, please do call us by our first names, Larxene, dear. After all, we will be in-laws in just a day!"

"Indeed..." Larxene faked a grin onto her face. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that her husband was scowling. She harshly nudged him in the side, ordering him to be polite to their guests. He attempted to smile, but it only came out as a grimace. "...charmed." He spoke through clenched teeth. The Everlosts finally took note of the von Karn boy.

"And I'm to assume that _this_ young man here is Roxas?" Vexen inquired. Suddenly catching his attention, Roxas stood upright and firm, his eyes wide as though he were a deer staring into headlights right before it was about to be hit by a truck. ...he really should stop reading those horror stories about the future.

"Y-Yes, sir! Mr. Everlost, uh, sir!" His voice cracked slightly, his nerves rattling mercilessly. He could feel his body shaking and hoped to God Almighty that they hadn't noticed. Vexen paced around the lad, observing his physique.

"Hmm... I _guess_ he'll have to do," Vexen sighed. It didn't really matter. So long as the boy came from a wealthy family.

"The adults need to talk, m'boy. It'll be boring stuff, really. Matters that you wouldn't understa-" Hayner patted his boy's back before being hit over the head by his wife's purse. "Come along, dear! No use talking the poor boy to death before he's even married."

"Yes, c-coming, dear..." Hayner staggered over and followed his wife and the Everlosts. Well, now with the parents gone, Roxas could use this opportunity to explore this house. He might be living here after...well, they seal the deal. There didn't appear to be much to look at, though. The walls were aligned with family portraits from generations upon generations of the Everlost family (obviously on the father's side) and as for the rest of the house? Gray. Not a single speck of any other color. Gray, gray, and look. More gray. He sighed, hope lost of ever finding something in this place that would be even worth looking at. A chance to answer his prayers came, but dispersed quickly as he continued down the hall full of portraits. He happened to pass by the only portrait of their daughter, Namine Everlost. He also happened to not be paying any attention and, unfortunately, missed that little bit of beauty.

Eventually, he came upon a room that had some hope for his dull life after all. Among this world of gray inside the Everlost home, where outside was nothing but black and white, was more black and white. But this black and white, however, was lovely.

A piano stood alone in the room, lit only by the overcast-concealed sun through a dusty window bordered by even dustier curtains. He carefully approached it, as though it were some forbidden treasure of some lost civilization that was wiped out from being overrun by some other lost civilization, and his footsteps echoed endlessly down the empty halls. His hand reached out in front of him once he was only two or three feet away, and his fingertips gingerly ran down the smooth, pearl-white ivory keys. A small smile was brought to his face as he stared down at this priceless, lovely thing.

"You play?" a shy voice brought him out of his thoughts. Gasping, he turned on his heel toward the direction of the voice. Standing in the doorway, with blonde hair and blue eyes that, lovely as they were, were just breath-taking when compared to the rest of their environment, was yet another priceless, lovely thing.

* * *

**Author's Note**

So, like, I blame my sister. She made me watch Corpse Bride again, and well, I got inspired. Damn it. Hahahaha.

Kimi to Taiyou ga Shinda hi is still being worked on, though I'm a bit at a block right now. D:

This story is like Corpse Bride in the KH universe. Roxas plays the role of Victor (though, he won't be as dramatic hahaha), Namine is Victoria (and she won't be as dull =/) and who shall play the corpse? Well... You'll have to see. C:

I don't own anything. Kingdom Hearts is copyrighted and owned by Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura. Corpse Bride belongs to Tim Burton. This is not my attempts to make a profit. kthxbai


	2. A Grave Misunderstanding

"You play?" a shy voice brought him out of his thoughts. Gasping, he turned on his heel toward the direction of the voice. Standing in the doorway, with blonde hair and blue eyes that, lovely as they were, were just breath-taking when compared to the rest of their environment, was yet another priceless, lovely thing.

"Y-Yes...Do you?" Roxas replied. The girl smiled weakly, and chuckled in shame. "I'm afraid not...I wasn't allowed to learn. Heh, Mother thought it expressed too much emotion. 'It isn't very lady-like', she would tell me."

She cautiously stepped forward, taking slow and long strides. Her dulled-ruby dress, which proved to be a bit too long for her, dragged on the boringly gray tile. "Do you think I could hear you play some time?" Her gray-blue eyes met his cerulean as she glanced up shyly. Instantly he was petrified on the spot, wanting to melt under the innocence her gaze held. He didn't even realize that he had been staring with a vacant expression on his face until he heard a "hello?" bring him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" he snapped out of it. She giggled lightly. It was the most beautiful music he had ever heard in his life, an even more siren-esque sound than any piano in the world could make. "I said, do you think I could hear you play some time?" she repeated. "Oh, uh... O-Of course! I mean...we _are_ getting married, aren't we?"

A hand scratched the back of his chopped, blonde hair, and he could feel heat come up to his face, awkwardly glancing away to the side. "Y-Yes...We are." She fidgeted a little. "You know...I've had dreams, ever since I was a little girl. About my wedding day, I mean. I've dreamt..." she looked at him wistfully. "...that the person I'd marry would be the love of my life...who would stay by my side for forever."

His irises moved their attention back onto the beauty in front of him and found that her face was, too, blushing a bit. That shade of red suited her fair skin well. _Very_ well. It especially brought out those eyes of hers that he just couldn't help falling in love with. His hand slowly dropped from his head and a gentle smile crept onto his face.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced," he stated. They both knew each other by name, but if they were to be getting married in less than twenty-four hours, it wouldn't be polite if they didn't officially introduce themselves upon meeting. He saw this as just a formality. "I'm Roxas," he bowed like a gentleman, one hand behind his back and the other holding out towards her. He saw her smile back at him, charmed by his polite nature.

"I'm Namine," she spoke in a soft voice. Namine placed her hand in Roxas' and curtsied, her other hand holding her dress. Roxas brought her hand to his lips and kissed it with care, as though the slightest touch would break this girl. "It's a pleasure to meet you...Namine," he replied, glancing up at her. He stood upright and loosened his grip on her hand. Her grip on his, however, tightened. "The pleasure is mine...Roxa-"

_"What are__** earth **__are you two doing here __**alone**__?"_

Startled, Roxas let go of Namine's hand as he lept backwards. He ran into the side of the piano, almost knocking over a tiny, gray vase that was placed upon it. A squeak was let out when he quickly turned and caught it before it could fall. A single, dying flower was all that was in the vase. It showed slight tints of a shade of blue, but that was being devoured by gray. This monochromatic life just had to ruin everything in this world, didn't it? He looked over his shoulder to see a rather fierce, blonde woman. She was probably Namine's mother.

"Don't you know of the rumors that will spread if anyone were to hear about this? My daughter, alone with a boy she's never met before? I will have nothing of it!" Her response was a shy nod and a, "yes, Mother."

"Good. Now come along. You're late for rehearsal."

Larxene Everlost walked away. Namine turned to her fiance and took his hands into hers before leading him out of the room. "Well, I guess we should be going. Are you nervous?" He realized that he wasn't, actually. Not nervous in the slightest. Maybe it was because this girl gave him some new strength? If that was the case, he wouldn't mind marrying her. Not. At. All.

"Me? Nervous?" he grinned sheepishly as they walked through the hall, hand in hand. "My dear, it's only a rehearsal. What could go wrong?"

* * *

**Three. Hours. Later.**

* * *

"Now then, let's try this..._**again**_," the priest shot Roxas a deadly glare. Roxas gulped, shaking a little. They had been at this for over three hours...and he still didn't get his vows down. "Repeat after me," the priest cleared his throat, and looked at Roxas and Namine as he recited their vows.

_With this hand, I will lift your sorrows._

_Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine._

_With this candle, I will light your way in darkness._

_With this ring, I ask you to be mine._

"Let's get it right this time..._Mr. von Karn_," he turned his head to Roxas, threatening him. He had wasted enough of their time. "Y-Yes, of course, Father Ansem, uh, sir!" he straightened his posture, held up the candle stick in his right hand, and held his left up.

"With this hand, I-"

"Right."

"Yes, right. With this ha-"

"No. _Right_."

"...OH!" he finally caught on to what Father Ansem was saying, which basically translated into, "You're holding the candle in the wrong hand, you damned fool!" The candle was quickly tossed to his left hand and he held his right up.

"W-With this hand! I will lift your sorrows," he began, taking Namine's left hand into his right. Together, they stepped forward toward the pedestal. One step. Two steps. Three steps. Fou-

"Oomf!" Roxas grunted, his foot running into the wooden frame. "_Three_ steps, it's only _three_!" Father Ansem sighed in aggrivation. The boy coughed nervously, the girl giggled. "Mr. von Karn, do you not _want_ to get married?" he roared. Roxas jumped, startled. "N-No!"

Namine looked at him with horror, the giggling dead. "You...You don't want to marry me?" Oh, crap. "What? No, no, no! That isn't at all what I meant!" he blurted out in a panic. Namine tilted her head and looked at him with hurt eyes, wanting an explaination. "W-What I meant was...I don't _not_...want to get married. Which, by that I mean, I do very much _want_ to get married!" Phew. Managed to get around that on-

"Ow!" The blonde boy held the top of his head, having just been struck by Father Ansem's priest staff. "Proceed." Roxas nodded, rubbing the still-sore spot on his head before assuming the position, resuming from where they last left off.

"Your wine will never- Wait. Uhh..."

"'Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine.' Say it correctly," he growled under his breath. "Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wife." Not quite. He smacked himself in the forehead with his palm. Agh, he was such an idiot!

"Never mind that. Continue."

"With this candle, I will light your way in darkness," he spoke. Yes! Finally! He got one line down! Grinning in triumph, his hand moved the unlit candle toward the one aflame upon the pedestal. The wick touched the flame...and did nothing. The grin quickly faded into a look of confusion, and he tried once again to get his candle lit. Another failure. He could sense the dark aura from the priest in front of him. Oh, crap...This was so not going well. Namine moved her candle to his and set the wick on fire.

"Please tell me you at least have _the ring_..." he groaned in frustration, clenching the flesh between his eyes with his fingers. The ring...The ring... "Ahh! Yes! I have it!" Roxas let go of Namine's hand and searched his coat's pocket upon his breast. Nothing there. Horror fell upon the boy's face as he searched desperately into another pocket. No way...He couldn't have forgotten it...!

"Found it!" he announced, his fingers deep in the pocket of the back of his pants. The priest sighed heavily, as if pleased that the groom-to-be got at least one thing right. His hand moved to remove the ring from his pocket...only to find that his coat's cufflink had gotten caught onto a button on his pants.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me..." he muttered under his breath, fighting with his wardrobe to free his hand and the ring that it was holding. Nervous and frustrated and without thinking things through, he moved both hands to the back of his pants to unsnag that damn cufflink. "Aha!" Success. He held up the ring in his newly freed hand, feeling proud of himself. Their parents began to cause a great deal of noise behind them. Namine gasped and shrieked out his name in horror. He turned to her, confused.

"What is it, my dear?" he asked, before noticing what was wrong. He turned his head, feeling hot all of a sudden. His coat was on fire. He was on fire. He was on fire! **He was on **_**fire**_**!**

"WHOA!" Without making haste, he stripped himself of his coat and threw it onto the floor, his foot stomping out the flame. That must have happened when he just went to free his sleeve...Damn, he really was stupid. Shortly after, the fire was out. He tried catching his breath, having been scared half to death from the events that just transpired. Namine placed a hand on his shoulder, asking if he was alright. He nodded, and both of their attention was turned to Father Ansem, who was as hot as the fire in all of his fury.

_**"You dolt! You almost set yourself on fire! How am I supposed to expect you to be ready by tomorrow?" **_he exploded. Roxas shook under his rage, his eyes staring at him full of fear. He was never one to respond well to yelling. The priest turned to Pence and Hayner von Karn, and pointed a finger at Roxas. _**"Do **__**not **__**bring this boy back into my sight until he has been fully prepared! He is not a groom, he is not even an adult! He will make a poor excuse for a husband and he shall remain so until he gets this **__**right**__**!"**_ He slammed the bottom of his staff onto the tile of the room.

Roxas slowly backed away from Father Ansem and Namine, removing himself from her grasp. She turned, shocked to find him walking away. "Roxas?" Her hand reached out to him. His pace increased briefly, putting more distance between himself and his fiance. He made his way back toward the door, feeling uneasy under the stares he was receiving from both his and Namine's parents. Larxene and Vexen Everlost didn't seem impressed in the slightest, and they scoffed at him before turning away. Pence and Hayner von Karn, his own parents...they looked at him with shame. His gaze finally fell onto Namine. Namine...the girl he was betrothed to, the girl he was supposed to make happy, to be there for her in sickness and in health, 'til death do they part...he failed her. Her eyes - those very eyes he had fallen in love with - pleaded with him not to go, to stay and make everything better. How he wanted to oblige to her wishes...but he couldn't stay. Not here.

Not where she could see _him_, her failure of a husband-to-be.

He turned around and burst open the double-doors, running as fast as his scrawny little legs would carry him.

"Roxas!" He heard Namine call out for him from inside of the room where they were practicing, but he ignored it. As much as it killed him inside, to upset such a beautiful girl, he knew it would only hurt her more if he stayed. She called out a second time, her voice growing distant. He could see the front doors, large and wide. Well, _now_ he couldn't. He opened those doors and emersed himself back into that monochromatic world. He could've sworn he heard Namine call for him a third time, but that could have just been guilt stabbing at his heart. He didn't know where to go, but he did know one thing: wherever he ended up going, it couldn't be home and it most certainly couldn't be here, at the Everlost house. He just had to run. Run. Run wherever his legs would take him, scrawny as they were. When would he know when to stop? Whenever he felt tired, or whenever he felt like he was far enough.

* * *

By the time he stopped running, it was dark and the full moon was shining down upon the earth. Roxas had found himself on the stone bridge that led to the forest on the outskirts of the surprisingly large town. He was leaning on the side of the bridge, the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, a tint of burned fabric on the side of his shirt where his coat was set ablaze (on total accident. He was still mentally beating himself over such a stupid mistake). He stared down at the stream that ran below the bridge, wanting to look away from his pathetic and rippled reflection but not able to bring himself to it. He had punish himself somehow and if reminding himself of the failure that he was did it, he would stare at himself for forever - his poor, stupid self.

In his hand, he played with the stem of a flower he had picked after approaching the bridge. It looked just like the one on Namine's piano. It even had the same dying tint of blue. His attention turned from his reflection to the flower he held in his hand.

"She probably thinks I'm a fool..." he murmured. He shook his head. "No, she _knows_ I'm a fool," He sighed in despair. A bell ringing from the town broke through the quiet of the night. He turned his head toward the noise and found the town's newsman announcing headlines a short distance away.

"**VON KARN BOY RUINS WEDDING REHEARSAL! EVERLOST DAUGHTER SCORNED AND LEFT IN TEARS!**" What? _That_ was what the main story was about tonight? The newsman paused, seeing Roxas staring at him. Their eyes locked for a brief moment; the newsman blinked, and Roxas raised an eyebrow. Well. This was certainly an awkwar-

"**VON KARN BOY DEEMED UNFIT TO WED EVERLOST DAUGHTER!**" he continued with the story, ringing that bell. The blonde sighed angrily and rolled his eyes, pushing himself off of the bridge's ledge and walking down the path toward the forest. He needed time to think. "**EVERLOST HOUSE ALMOST SET ON FIRE DURING REHEARSAL!**"

"wedding maybe cancelled!"

Those damn announcements were, like Namine's voice earlier that day, finally growing quiet. They grew more and more hushed the further he wandered into the forest. He just had to get away from everything right now...that's all.

"I just don't get it...It really shouldn't be that difficult," Roxas began talking to himself. "I mean, it's just a few simple vows. 'With this hand, I will...take your wine.' Geh, no..." he slapped his forehead. Even without the pressure from Father Ansem, he couldn't get it right. He continued walking, paying more attention to the vows he was supposed to have had memorized than where he was actually going. There was snow all over the ground, and the later it got into the night the colder the night became. Yet, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice the chilly air.

"With this hand...I will cup your-" he paused and looked down, noticing that his hands were curved and in front of his torso...as though he were groping...Namine's- "Oh, my good Heavens, no!" He took his hands away from his chest, his face bright red from shame - or was it horomones? - and removed any and all thoughts of such a..._tempting_...thing. He continued walking in whatever direction he was walking in, his socks and feet becoming moist from the snow. His arms were covered in goosebumps. Maybe he should have brought that coat anyway, despite it being burnt.

"With...With this..." Agh, what was the line again? "With this candle! I will..." he paused, finding himself in a clearing with a few random twigs and bushes sticking out of the snow. There was a dead tree, fallen and buried in white. "I will...!" He had it, then remembered what had happened earlier. "I will set myself on fire," he sighed, slumping his shoulders woefully. He rested upon the dead tree, burying his freezing face into his equally freezing hands. Why couldn't he get this right...? Why couldn't he get anything right?

One hand reached into the side pocket of his pants and pulled out two things: the flower, and the ring. He stared down at them for a moment or so. The ring reminded him of what he had more or less just ruined. It was only there to taunt him, make him remember how badly he crashed and burned today. The flower...it reminded him of Namine. His sweet, innocent Namine was probably still at home, waiting for him to come back to make things right. His fingers clasped around the flower and it brought it up to his nose, taking in its gentle fragrance. He closed his eyes, lost in his thoughts about her, his lovely bride-to-be. A small smile crept onto his face, remembering what he felt when he first laid eyes on her, when she first smiled at him. He knew it was love. A sudden wave of determination swept through his body. He put the flower gently into his pocket, holding the ring securing in his palm, and got up onto his feet.

"With this hand...I will lift your sorrows," he recited, full of confidence, holding up his right hand. He took a step forward, taking his role as a man seriously. "Your cup will never empty, for _I_ will be your wine." A bright grin came onto his face. He was getting this...He was getting this! That only boosted his confidence even more. Oh god, he was starting to feel the adreniline rushing through his veins. He turned and hurried back to the side of the dead tree, wanting to make sure he got this down flat before he dared showed his face to his lovely Namine. A hand reached up to a whithering branch and broke it off of the tree. He noted a stump on the side of the tree.

"With this candle! I will light your way in darkness!" he announced, pretending the branch was the candle (thankfully and not-thankfully lit at this point in the night) and the stump was the pedestal he was lighting it on. He imagined a powerful flame upon his makeshift candle, beaming at his blooming success. One last line to recite...But what would he use fo-

There! Out of the corner of his eye, Roxas spotted a branch that must have fallen off of a tree. It was just sitting there, mostly buried in about three feet of snow at the base of a tree. It almost perfectly resembled a hand. It would be great for practice. He approached it cautiously, gripping the ring in his fist. Here it was: the moment of truth. Did Roxas really have it in him to be a husband? ...or would he be doomed as a failure for forever?

"With this ring..." he paused, his voice becoming calmer. He moved down onto one knee, carefully holding the ring between his index finger and thumb in one hand, and the hand-like branch in the other as though it were the hand of his soon-to-be lover. "...I ask you to be mine." The vow finished, he slipped the ring onto the fourth "finger" of this oddly-shaped branch - what was even more odd was that it looked like a left hand, of all things! - and froze. He did it. He actually did it. Shock began to leave his body, and a wide, ecstatic grin emerged onto his face.

"Yes!" he cheered, leaping onto his feet, fists pumping and snow flying as he did his own little victory dance. It was rather short-lived, however. He felt like...he was being watched. He stopped and looked up, noticing a large murder of crows in the trees. They weren't there just two minutes ago...were they? The way they stared at them, then cackled...it made him feel uneasy. The wind was beginning to pick up. That grin faded away the more they stared at him... What was going on? He backed away a step or two as the crows grew louder.

Something grabbed his ankle.

Roxas spun around, looking down. There was no way...His eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was this real? That branch he had just put the ring on in practice... It was grabbing his leg!

"Ahh!" He tried breaking out of the branch's grasp, his leg shaking violently in attempts to free himself and falling to the ground. When he heard a crack, he thought he managed to break the "fingers" off of the branch; when he looked down, however, he saw that he was gravely mistaken. The whole "arm" had snapped off of..._something_, buried deep in the snow. Whatever that was, it must have been alive.

_With this hand..._

The grip on his ankle grew tighter and a voice whispered ominously.

_...I will lift your sorrows..._

Panicking, he grabbed at the branch, arm...whatever it was and tried to pry it off of him. It felt like a bone...It kind of sickened him and made him feel a bit queasy. After a struggle, he managed to pull it off of his body. The fingers still clenched and grabbed for whatever part of his anatomy was closest - and since it was facing him, it was his face - while he tried to keep it away. His strength proved to be greater than this...thing, and he threw it in some random direction. He didn't care where, as long as it was nowhere in hell near him.

The mound of snow in front of him began to shift and crumble. Whatever laid dormant in there was coming out, and Roxas didn't want to know what it was. ...he should have known by now that he never got what he wanted in this world.

_Your cup will never empty..._

An arm, not quite so bone-like as the other, popped out of the ground and reached for the heavens before swinging down and grabbing onto whatever solid ground it could find. Roxas scrambled backwards, whatever-it-was emerging from the snow. Some snow fell off of the mound, creating a cave-like hole in the front. It was dark. But standing out in that darkness was blue - a single, blue orb, glowing in that darkness beneath the snow.

_...for I will be your wine..._

The snow crumbled away as whatever-it-was began to stand on its feet. Roxas could only stare in shock and sheer terror as this figure came crawling out of the ground. It was still too dark to tell exactly whatever-it-was really_ was_.

_I've not a candle..._

The blonde took note of the fact that whatever-it-was was missing a limb. Its left arm. That arm he had placed the ring on...is that what started all of this? He forced his arms to push him backwards even though his fingers were freezing and growing numb, crawling away from this thing rising like the dead.

...the dead.

_...but I shall lead you to happiness._

The figure straightened its back, revealing itself to the moonlit world though still concealed in shadows. Roxas froze, mouth agape, eyes wide, at the sight. The figure was a person...a decaying, dead person. He could easily see _that_, even in the darkness.

_With this ring..._

They stepped out from the mound of snow, coming into the light. Indeed, their left arm was missing. Their clothing, which consisted of a black tuxedo, was torn and filthy. Their face...So many things could be said about their face. It was decaying, just like the rest of the body. But...their face...It was a young boy's face. It had a sort of gentleness to it, even with part of his cheek rotting to reveal their teeth. His hair, brown and spikey, was full of mud and twigs. There were probably bugs in it, too. The thing that really caught the blonde's attention, however, was his eyes. They were a bright blue, brighter than any blue Roxas had ever seen. Yet, they were dulled, the life long gone from this boy. Dull, yet bright...which were they?

"...I ask you...to be mine," he spoke softly. A kind smile came upon the boy's face as he approached the stunned blonde lying in the snow, his right hand - which was not yet decomposed - reaching out towards him, a silver ring in his palm.

Realizing the situation, Roxas snapped out of his horrified daze and scrambled onto his feet while keeping himself away from the approaching corpse. He let out a yell of fright as he ran into the woods, scared out of his wits. What in the hell was going on? The dead can't come back to life! Was he just losing it? Was this all just some figment of his imagination? Yeah.. Yeah, that had to be it! He was just nervous because of the wedding! That had to be it! That definitely had to be-

"Aaaugh!" he yelped, losing his footing and falling off of a shoulder he mistook for solid ground. He struggled to keep his balance as he went down, but gravity proved its existence even here as he fell face-forward into the ground below. His body slid on the snow and he crashed into a decaying log. Groaning in pain, he supported himself with one hand while rubbing his sore temple with the other. He hoped he wasn't bleeding, though he could definitely feel a bruise coming on.

Wait. Why was he worrying about _bruises_? There was a _corpse_ _**chasing**_ him, for goodness sake! He looked over his shoulder to see if there wa-

Oh my God. It was standing there, on that very boulder he had slid off of. It was just staring down at him, staring at him through those lifeless, dull blue eyes it bore in its sockets, glowing in the moonlight. Staggering onto his feet, Roxas continued to flee away from this walking corpse - this _zombie_, if you will. He made sure to be careful about where he was going. Hang on, where _was_ he going? Where was the town? Where was _anywhere_? He then began to realize exactly how dire his situation really was. He was all alone in the middle of the woods - it was freezing and he hadn't a coat nor food nor water nor fire - with no way back to civilization, and there was a dead body coming after him. If he wasn't afraid before, he sure as hell was afraid now. There would be nobody to help him. Nobody...Not his mother, nor his father. Not the town's elected official, not the police, not even that damn annoying newsman. Namine...Namine wouldn't be there for him, either.

He stopped running, his legs tired and his sides about to split. He should've gotten into better physical shape...Heh. He couldn't believe himself, worrying about something so trivial at a time like this. He hunched over, his hands on his thighs as he attempted to catch his breath, if just for a moment. He was glad he stopped running anyway - he was about to make the same mistake twice and slip down a slope. This landing wouldn't be as gentle, either. At the bottom of this white hill, there was a frozen pond. He could see from where he stood hunched over that it was completely frozen. He probably could break a bone if he fell from this height...or worse. A gulp was forced down his dry throat at the thought of that. Still panting but not nearly as sore, he stood up-right. He stared down at the snow on the opposite bank. Snow...Snow! He could follow his tracks back to town! It hadn't snowed a single inch since he left! Surely the tracks must still be there!

Roxas turned around, ready to run for his life. The second his body had rotated, however, his bright, cerulean eyes met with dull, sky-blue ones. They were close. So close. The sudden sight startled the already-terrified blonde, and out of being startled, he jumped backwards. It was a second too late by the time he realized his mistake, his foot slipping on the ice and snow. Gravity once again proved its existence, and it proved its cruelty as the corpse seemed to grow farther and farther away. He felt light, like he was flying. Through the trees he could see the midnight-black sky and all of the stars that shined. He could see the slope he was just standing on grow higher and higher. He could see...the corpse's expression of horror and its hand reaching out for him, its mouth open and letting out a silent scream. He felt...He felt cold. He felt tired. He felt scared. He guilt. Regret. Shame. Love...especially love. Love for a certain girl who had stolen his heart that day. How ironic: his heart was stolen by a girl and stopped by a corpse, all in the same day. He chuckled mentally at that. The last thing he felt...it was pain. Stinging pain struck the back of his skull.

The last thing he saw wasn't the sky. It wasn't the moon, nor the stars. It wasn't the trees, or the snow, or the rocks, or crows that gathered in the branches. It wasn't the corpse, holding out a hand to rescue, the look it bore on its face when it saw that he was going down. It wasn't that light that people always say appears when you die. No...it was darkness.

Merciful, forgiving darkness.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Whoo! Over 5,000 words in this one! Holy crap! _

I'm glad that people are enjoying this story, though what would make me even more glad is if people actually _review_ it. I've had more Story Alerts and Story Faves and Author Faves than I've had reviews. That is pretty bitter-sweet. Happy as I am that people are adding my stories to their favorites because they like them, I want to know _why_ they like them, or what I can do to improve on them. I live off of these reviews. I want to know that I'm doing things correctly so that in the event I do decide to become an author (liek, fur realz) I know what to do. Please review! :D

Can anyone else imagine Roxas' victory dance? Because I can, and it is _marvelous_.

My oh my, what will happen to our little blonde next? If you've seen the movie, you might have a vague idea. Buuuuuuut I might just surprise you. ;D


	3. Remains of the Day

If somebody had approached Roxas one day and told him that he would die the day before his wedding, the boy more than likely would've seen the person has a loon and merely shrug off the warning. However, that was no longer the case. Looking back on it now, if somebody had, indeed, approached Roxas one day and told him that he would die the day before his wedding, he would have thanked the person deeply, run upstairs and lock himself in his bedroom, and never enter this damn forest. Because, hey, look where _that_ got him: dead. There was none of that "light at the end of the tunnel" nonsense he had heard about - all he could see was darkness. That pain he felt immediately before the darkness came was gone, so he surely must have been dead. Death wasn't nearly as cold as he would have thought it would be, though; in actuality, he didn't feel cold at all, not even from the snow. He wasn't exactly what you could call "warm" -

_Darling... Darling, are you alright?_

- but he wasn't cold, that was for sure. And even if he was, he wouldn't have been able to _feel_ it. He was _dead_. A voice was calling out to him...was it God? Was God calling to him to welcome him in open arms and grant him entrance into Heaven? There was faint music in the background...and he could see lights blurred and dimmed somewhere in the darkness. But if he was dead, he wouldn't have been hearing a voice - much less a young person's voice and one that called him "_darling_".

_Please wake up...! Are you okay?_

So, then maybe he wasn't dead at all! Maybe that fall down the hill and that blow to the head from the frozen pond didn't kill him! He must have been invincible to be able to survive in freezing cold without warmth or water _and_ fall from that height and survive. Bring it on, Mother Nature! You can't break _this_ kid!

But...if he wasn't dead...

_Darling..._

...then, where _was_ he?

* * *

"Please, wake up! You can't leave me now!"

Roxas opened his eyelids to a voice that was pleading with him to return to consiousness, his vision hazed. Hearing the voice call him "darling" over and over again, he expected to wake up in the Everlost's mansion, upon Namine's bed, with her standing beside it and holding his hand tightly. Then when she saw that he had woken up, she would embrace him and cry tears of joy, and he would embrace her and comfort her and tell her that everything was alright. And then after that, he would finally prove to Father Ansem, as well as both of their parents, that he was ready to become a husband. And then, he and Namine would be wed and they would surely become the happiest they have ever been in their lives. Oh, if only the world would have granted him at least that wish.

He was convinced that the world must have hated him.

"Ahh!" he let out that squeak once his vision became focused and he saw not the fantasy that he was praying for, but a certain corpse boy staring down at him with concerned eyes. There was a tall skeleton kneeling down beside the boy, staring down at the blonde with empty eye sockets.

"He sure is a jumpy fellow, isn't he?"

"Oh Jack, I'm sure he's just startled to have finally waken up from his death. He'll calm down once the shock goes away," the boy glanced over at the skeleton, a small smile gracing his lips. Roxas' body shot up, finding himself surrounded by the dead. Heart pounding against his ribcage and breath heavy, he scrambled backwards in a pathetic attempt to get away. Well, that failed once he bumped into something behind him.

"Pardon me, old chap," a rather aged and rough voice spoke from behind the blonde. He looked over his shoulder to see a pale middle-aged man with a large moustache towering over him. At first he seemed normal...until he stepped past the blonde with both halves of his body on each side. Roxas stared in horror at the sight of a man split in half, intestines dangling out, lungs shrivled, heart black and rotten, just walk right past him.

"Are you alright?" an all too familiar voice brought the blonde back down to earth. His head snapped from the man-cut-in-half to the corpse he had encountered earlier that night, who was currently making its way over to him. Roxas scrambled onto his feet and back away from it and the dead that followed it. Eventually, his back hit something - wait, this "something" didn't feel like bones or flesh. Maybe it was something he could use as a weapon!

"G-Get back!" he warned, one hand reached back towards the object that he hoped he could use to defend himself. "I have a -" His arms swung said object in front of him. It was, in actuality, a weapon - a sword, to be more precise. But he wasn't exactly expecting something to be impaled upon it.

"...I have a duck," his voice was mixed with shock, more horror, and unamusement. The duck that was impaled upon the sword was wrapped in bandages. Maybe it was a family pet? No time to think about that for now. The dead were closing in!

"Stop!" he commanded, pointing the weapon at the group. They obeyed, though out of confusion and not fear. "N-Now, listen. I'm not sure what in the hell is going on, but I demand you give me questions! _Now_!"

"Answers."

"...w-what?" Roxas looked at the duck on his sword. It could...talk? "I believe you mean you want_ answers_."

"...right, yes. Answers. Thank you."

The group began to move closer.

"Not so fast!" Once more, the sword was aimed at the dead. "I have a right to know what is happening! Who are all of you? Where am I? What's going on here?" The questions just poured out of his pink lips, not exactly thinking straight. He must have asked them all in only one breath, because by the time he was done asking he was panting heavily. There was an eerie silence that seemed to drag on. The corpse boy cautiously approached the blonde, much in the same manner that Namine had when they first met, and gently removed the sword from Roxas' hands.

"I'm afraid...that's a long story," he looked at the boy with a forlorn look, his dull-but-bright eyes hiding something behind them. Eyes were supposed to be the window to the soul. This boy had no soul...but...Roxas could definitely see something in them.

"And what a story it is!" the skeleton from before came out from behind the blonde, a toothy grin on his boney face. Startled, Roxas jumped away from the skeleton, bumping into the corpse briefly before jumping away from him. "You just sit down and listen, boy. Jack Skellington will tell you _anything_ and _everything_ you need to know." He turned to a group of skeletons huddled by a piano.

"Hit it boys."

The place was instantly filled with lively music, crazy music, music that Roxas was sure would have been forbidden up in that monochromatic world he had lived in before. It had a sort of...swing, to it. The boy had a hard time resisting the urge to tap his foot and move his body to the beat. The skeleton called Jack grabbed the boy's shoulders from behind and pulled him in close as he looked at him from the side.

_Hey! Give me a listen you corpses of cheer_

_Leastles of you who still got an ear_

_I'll tell you a story make a skeleton cry_

_Of our own corpse groom and the way that he died!_

Jack forced Roxas into a spinning chair as a group of the dead surrounded him and joined in the chorus.

_Die, die we all pass away_

_But don't wear a frown 'cause it's really okay_

_And you might try 'n' hide_

_And you might try 'n' pray_

_But we all end up the remains of the day_

The fear had long left the boy's body at this point. This sound...this wonderful music. It was so new and foreign and..._alive_. There was never anything even remotely close to being like it in the world he lived in before. And he just couldn't get enough of it! He bopped in his seat while he listened to the group sing "_YEAH, YEAH, YEAH_", an uncontrollable smile brightening his face. Jack returned to begin the story behind that corpse that seemed to have some sort of infatuation with him.

_Well, our guy is a beauty known for miles around_

_He lived with Mom, Dad, and twin, the richest family in town_

_One day he met a stranger and while he had no cash_

_Well, our poor little babe, he fell hard and fast_

_Well their daddies said "no", and they just couldn't cope._

_So our lovers came up with a plan to elope._

Trying not to be distracted by the most amazing sounds he would ever hope to listen to, he tried to comprehend the events in the story: the corpse and his family were the richest in town. He met someone one day and the two fell in love. Their parents forbid their marriage, so they ran away to get married. ...that sounded about right.

_Die, die we all pass away_

_But don't wear a frown 'cause it's really okay_

_And you might try 'n' hide_

_And you might try 'n' pray_

_But we all end up the remains of the day_

Roxas stood up from the chair, unable to to control his body and wanting to lose himself in the music. He closed his eyes and moved his feet to the jazzy rhythm, almost completely forgetting exactly what was going on. This music was a world all on its own. It was an almost perfect world...except, it was missing just one thing... Before he could figure out what that "one thing" was, Jack took him out of his thoughts, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the other boy.

_So they conjured up a plan to meet late at night_

_They told not a soul, kept the whole thing tight_

_Now his father's wedding tux fit like a glove -_

_You don't need much when you're really in love_

Roxas was thrown into the corpse's arms, who took his hands in his and gripped them tightly.

_He snuck out of the house that night, supposedly alone,_

_And left behind that place that he called "home"._

_Then next to the grave yard by the old oak tree_

_On a dark foggy night at a quarter to three_

_He was ready to go when suddenly..._

"And then?" Roxas asked, looking over at Jack with curiousity and breaking out of the others' grip. How did this story end? Jack approached the two and crept in suspensefully.

"He waited..."

"And then?"

"There in the shadows, could it be his love?"

"And _then_?"

"His blue eyes met with yellow ones-"

"And **_then_**?" he interrupted. This was getting too good. Don't leave him on the edge of his seat, Jack! Tell him!

"...and then, baby...everything went _black_." Roxas' grin dropped the instant he realized that the events Jack just spoke of at that moment...were the last moments this person had _alive_. Those words meant...this person...was _murdered_.

_Now when he opened his eyes he was dead as dust_

_His lover wasn't there and his heart was bust_

_So he made a vow lyin' under that tree_

_That he would always wait for him to come set him free_

_Always waiting for him to finally take him away_

_When out of the blue comes you, and as of today_

_You've vowed to love him for forever_

_Finally, our guy's back with his lover-_

"Wait a minute!" Roxas shouted. The music stopped abruptly. The dead stopped dancing. Jack looked back at the blonde with a curious look on his face.

"What was that last part? I 'vowed to love him for forever'?" Whoa. That was bit too much to take in. "W-When did this happen?"

"In the woods," the corpse answered. His arms wrapped around Roxas' right, nuzzling his head into the boy's shoulder. "You came by and you said your vows. You said them so, so perfectly~" Roxas looked at the corpse who was showing affection with wide eyes. "I've waited for so long to hear them, and after going for all that time not hearing your voice...I could've died right then and there - I mean, if I wasn't already dead." He sighed wistfully.

"Y-You don't understand! That was mistake!" Roxas shook the corpse off of his arm. "A mistake? What do you mean?" Those dull-but-bright eyes looked at the blonde, showing him the hurt that he felt inside.

"I...I wasn't in the woods to propose to you!" A gasp waved through the crowd. "I was practicing my vows...I was getting married to somebody else!" Oh, no. Panic was setting in. This was not improving things. At. All. Damn it! What to say, what to say?

"Somebody else? That...That can't be..." the corpse seemed to be in denial. "No...No, that's impossible...You, you promised you would marry _me_!" Anyone could see that the boy was on the verge of losing it. What in the hell was going on?

"What? No! I never promised that I would marry you! I don't even know who you are!" Roxas took a step back. Was this guy crazy? How could he have promised marriage to someone - a guy, no less! - that he had never seen before? Apparently there was a way, because the corpse looked back at him with glassy, dead eyes that showed how broken he was inside.

"You...you don't remember me...?" his voice was soft, failing to hide that brokenness. He took a step towards Roxas. "We...met on the docks...we were both just five, maybe six, years old..." Another step. "We were friends...best friends...We told each other everything..."

Roxas took another step away from the corpse.

"We were so much in love...We were so happy together...Why don't you remember me? It's me! It's Sora!" he pleaded, hoping Roxas would remember. The problem was this: Roxas couldn't remember something that never happened.

"I...I don't know a Sor-"

"Why not? Were you away for that long?" Sora broke out of his shell, shouting with sorrow-filled words. "Away from _what_? I've never seen you before!"

"That's not true!" the room went silent with that screech. Sora looked down sadly. "...what's gotten into you...why...why don't you remember what we had, what we did..." He looked back up at Roxas, fighting back tears that the dead were not really supposed to have. "Why don't you remember me, Ven?"

"...what did you...just call me?" Roxas froze, staring bewildered at the brunette in front of him. Sora stared at Roxas, a single tear running down his cheek.

"...Ven...Ventus von Karn..."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Truthfully, how many of you were expecting that ending? The story gets even deeper than that. Trust me. C:

Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the last. And like a fourth of what's in here is song lyrics. The lyrics are based off of the song from the movie, "Remains of the Day", by the way. Just edited to make them better fit this story. Obviously, the original song is not mine.

I managed to do this in about 2 and a half hours, so it's obviously not my best. But I wanted to get some plot in motion. What exactly happened to Sora? Why did he call Roxas "Ven"? What is their connection? You shall all see in the next couple of chapters. :)

Until then, please review! ^^


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